I am in the process of spiking rail in Ozark. I got the roadbed and ties down over the weekend as well as completing all of the sub-roadbed for the mainline (what I call the golden screw). I am hoping to post some pics of the progress tomorrow. Considering all of the racing this weekend and the Mavericks conference finals, I'd say I got a fair amount done. I'm also working with XTRAKCAD to try and post a simplified layout plan.
Thanks Halfpint. The one thing I love about Ozark is the short rock cut just west of the siding. It's the type of geographical feature that just spells Ozark if you are familiar with the area.
You ever see any of those trees with the huge thorns 6" long up around Fayetteville? They look like a Knight's sword!
More updates As promised here are some pics showing a little more progress Starting to install the split fascias for access to staging Installation of rail and ties in Ozark first looking east then west And the golden screw completing the subroadbed is where the countersink is laying (Also the future turnout for Clarksville Jct) This area is located across the aisle from Ozark. So considering all the racing going on M-day weekend and the Mavs conference finals, I would say a fair amount of progress has been made.
Well finally the mainline is complete so I can run trains all the way around the room!!!! I still need to complete the sidings, points on the turnouts and do the final wiring but this benchmark has been three years in the making. I must confess that I had to piece in a couple of sections of flex as I ran out of rail about 7' short. Here is the west end of Ozark - model And prototype Heading east through Ozark (Sorry for the focus) Around the wall towards Clarksville Jct (note the single point)
Continued At the end of the peninsula is the start of Spadra Around the end of the peninsula still in Spadra (that's Alma in the background across the aisle) Leaving Spadra this e/b is about to enter staging It has been a blast to now be able to just kick back and watch trains run for a change. It takes right at 10 minutes to complete a lap (including staging)
Thanks Watash. It has been a lot of work most of it fun. But I probably have 3-4 more years ahead with wiring, scenery, structures and I have got to get to work on a lighting valance. But the valance may have to wait for cooler temps in the attic if you know what I mean.
I hope you put some sprayed foam or batting insulation up in the rafters, and over the room ceilings! Then I diverted one of the air ducts to blow into the attic area. Couldn't seal off both end vents, so used a tacker and enclosed the layout space with a clear polyethylene sheeting. The cool air blows in to the enclosure, and is vented back into another room seldom used. Worked for summer and winter, so did the same thing in this house to cool my old office, now the layout room up stairs. I was going to do it out in my model shop, but I got too old too quickly, so too late now.
I don't have a problem with the train room. The walls and ceiling are will insulated with 3 ceiling fans to circulate air. But nothing keeps an attic cool during Texas summers.
My old layout was in the second floor of the old house, and had its own heating & air conditioning units. it could keep the room cool, but at a price (in the summer, a steep price, thanx to TXU). The new layout is going in the garage, with the mode of cooling a box fan. fortunately the garage is "closed-in" with adequate insulation, and i can open the garage door.
My layout is in our attached garage. My air conditioner for now is a box fan that I hang in the doorway from a nail. Winter time I use a combination of electric heat and a kerosene heater when it gets really cold. I think someone mentioned doing trackwork in the summer when it's hot - I did some in the winter, and sure enough I ended up with a slight problem in the summer because of expansion. Hopefully this won't be a problem once I get the track ballasted - not quite ready for that yet. Lake Michigan is just a couple miles up the road, so humidity can be a problem. Some of the guys in the area won't use foam insulation sheets for a layout surface because they claim it expands and contracts too much. I use foam and don't think it's a problem, but I am planning on sealing most of my frame work and foam surfaces with paint to help seal it off from humidity.
A question please Mopman, I am enjoying your progress. I have my layout pretty well layed out and am in the process of putting down the track base, cork. I was wondering about the cardboard strips you use for the terraine? Are they stapled or glued in place? Is it strong when toy lay the cloth and trees etc? I have a lot of dense styrofoam that i was going to stack and carve. What do you think? Cheers.
Joseph, I use both plaster and foam. I will apply a skim coat of plaster to the foam for carving rock formations. Here are a couple of pics of the foam liftout section I built this weekend. I find the cardboard web with two coats of plaster to be fairly hard for my applications.
Thanks MOPMAN, appreciate the info, nice pics, I assume that is the Plaster cloth.I wnt to incorporate mountains and a tunnel so that helps. Cheers
No plaster cloth. The first coat of plaster is nothing more than strips of newspaper soaked in plaster. The second coat is just troweled on, shaped, then carved.
